Happy Holidays from Experience Points!

Hello readers! It's been a while since I've updated the blog, so here's a quick recap of the last few weeks, as well as some minor plans for the near future.

The holidays have been busy and hectic as I bounce from one part of the family to the other, balancing work, work, writing, friends, family, and girlfriend. In actuality the business is a blessing and I welcome it with open arms. I am very fortunate to have such wonderful people in my life, even if scheduling can get stressful at times.

I have been continuing to work on three different projects at once, as is my way, while also throwing down the groundwork for a new pet project in the future. The print format of the Round 10 Core Rulebook is at a solid start, but it will not be ready by the end of the month, as originally expected. I think, when it comes to releasing books, I'm going to stop posting my expected release dates, as I can never seem to stay on top of them. Additionally, I am tightening up the writing of the first adventure module for R10, Operation: Heavenly Discord, which should be ready for digital download in the near future. And finally, I am starting to revise and piece together the sections of the Zimildran Setting Module for R10, which should be ready for publication sometime next year. Add to this the fact that I am also developing a second tabletop game that may or may not see release, as well as trying to balance every other aspect of my life, and I hope you can understand why my blog has been so silent as of late.

As for the future, I've said this before, but it is something that needs to happen and I plan to hold myself more accountable from here on out. Unlike years prior, I will be holding myself to a set of resolutions for this coming new year. Where once my resolutions were abstract and difficult to define, such as 'be a better friend' or 'be more creative', this year I plan to make the resolutions concrete and easy to track. Also, they will be recorded here, in my personal journal, and posted on my fridge at the apartment, so that I will always be well aware of their importance. As resolutions in years past have been about myself and my relationships with others, these ones will almost entirely be about me and my work, with Round 10, online publishing, illustration and game development. I am excited to share the resolutions with you when they are finalized!

As always, thank you so very much for your continued support and readership. If you have any questions, comments, concerns or criticisms about the blog, Round 10, or my writing in general, please email me at lostlegacyrp@gmail.com. Check out my Current Creative Projects page to see what I'm officially working on, and keep up to date with all of your Round 10 needs at the Round 10 Website, Round 10 on Facebook, and by getting Round 10 from RPGNow!

Summer Resolution

You know, I should just do away with my proposed blogging schedule. I'm not sticking to it at all.

Anywho...

I went on another late-night walk a few days ago, before this bout of rain and wind hit central Minnesota. I actually left my headphones at home, for once, to allow myself time to really think, rather than drowning out my thoughts with music.

I realized that, as is my norm around this time of year, I was becoming quite restless. Desires and drives were building up in me, causing my satisfaction to dip and my lamentations to rise. I saw time as something slipping away from me, as days wasted and relationships waning, and there was little I could do to reverse any of it. I wanted to call people and talk to people for no reason other than to do it. I wanted to play my drum outside again. I wanted to go on a road trip. I wanted to turn my life on its head, make decisions before I had time to think about them, and live my life, even if only for a short while, on the edge of my seat.

Sitting back and thinking about it all now, I feel that it isn't so much that I want to shake my life up with some random event or some big decision. Lord knows big changes are coming soon enough, anyway. Rather, I want to ensure that I feel good about how I spend my time overall. And the one way for me to feel good about my time, hands down beyond any doubt, is to spend it with people I care about, friends and family.

And so that is my "Summer Resolution." Consider it an expansion to my New Years Resolution (which was to be a better friend, brother, uncle and son, for anybody keeping count). For this summer, I am making it my goal to create more memories, take more pictures and do more with other people.
So if you're reading this and you know me personally, hold me to it. I've been known to hit stretches of complacency, times where I'm content just sitting at home doing next to nothing, and then I always regret those times later. I want to limit those times as much as possible this year, and again, if you know me personally, I want to be with YOU more this summer.

Now to get back to work on Round 10...

Too Much Wasted Time

My last couple of posts have been about time management in writing, and how to better hold yourself accountable for your time. I realize that the majority of this blog has been in and around various bits of advice when it comes to pursuing your career, yet I stopped and thought about that for a minute. Here I am, unpublished, distracted and as amateur as you can get, and I'm posting advice about how to become a better writer. That's more than a bit pretentious of me.

That being said, in an effort to shift the focus from me providing less-than-substantiated advice to me providing a window on my own experiences, I will start posting about my own writing habits, what I'm planning to do, and why. I've already talked about my love of journaling, so consider this blog an extension of my journals, one that is open for public viewing and feedback.

I've recently come under an undeniable feeling of restlessness when it comes to my career choice and my daily habits. I attribute part of this to the fact that I recently turned 25, an age that sort of slapped me in the face, forcing me to realize that I am an adult, no doubt about it. However, I cannot help but feel that part of it is because I am working in a job, and have been working in a job, that doesn't satisfy what I want out of a career choice.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job. I work with some very wonderful people and have had incredible memories. Some lasting friends have been made in the retail world for me. Yet, as I approach my 8th year, I cannot help but consider my level of personal satisfaction with my daily work, and I am disappointed with that assessment.

I'm faced with the feeling that the last few years of my life have been far too complacent, and now I feel like I need to work that much harder in order to make up for the lost time. I recently spoke with my parents about this feeling, and my father gave me the advice "I felt the same way at your age, but I stayed in the grocery business and I feel it worked out well." To his credit it certainly did, and I'm glad he made the choices he did in his life. However, something about this restlessness tells me that it goes beyond an aging man attempting to hang onto the openness and opportunity-filled days of his youth. I feel like there is no reason why I should be allowing myself to feel this way, and that I can turn it around if only I spend the time doing so.

It's a difficult realization to come to, and even more difficult to put into action, but it is my plan to do so. It is my hope to advance my career and my interests every day until I reach the point where I am satisfied with what I am doing. When that happens, I will be able to look at other aspects of myself and my life, and what I can do to better them.

When I spoke with my mother I told her that "I'm tired of just satisfying people, and I want to start actually helping people." And that is as close to the truth about my feelings as I've ever been able to vocalize. I'm tired of working in customer service, putting my people skills and my communication talents to use with a flimsy facade of making a difference. I want to actually make a difference. I want to help people learn, realize their potential, open their minds and view the world in different ways. This is why I landed on teaching as a career, and I feel like it will be the career of choice for me as my life moves on.

The real challenge, for me especially, is to stop letting time move around me, and instead start moving with it.

A Love for Journaling

In my last post I talked about keeping a personal, daily journal in order to help give you a chance to practice your writing on a daily basis. I do this myself, in part to help my writing, and in part because I simply have a love for personal journals.

I've found, while I was taking inventory of my sketchbook/journal/diary collection, that I have ten different journals, four of which are currently in use, the other six sitting and waiting until the current ones are filled and I move on. Not only that, but of the four current ones, I keep one in my school bag, two in my satchel, and one on my person at all times. It can become hard to keep track of them all, but luckily I've been able to set specific times and days when I use each, and each has its own specific purpose.

Has having all of these actually helped me? I honestly don't know, but I'd like to think so. I believe that by allowing myself that personal time to really explore my thoughts and feelings, I've worked to make myself not only better at writing, but also better at communicating in general.

A certain feeling comes over me when I open one of my journals. I generally have my headphones in, unless I particularly want to be open to the noise of the world around me, and I know that this is my time to really dig deep. When sketching, I keep my eyes open to what's happening around me, my vision drifting from one person to the next, one object to the next, and I silently record my sights with quick, sloppy line-art. When writing, I allow myself a moment to really sit back and investigate how I'm feeling, why I'm feeling that way, and how those feelings are affecting my judgment, my perceptions, and my expectations. My journal time has become one of the best moments of meditation, and I relish the chances I get to crack into those books and put my pencil, and my brain, to work.

So what's the point of this post? Well, I guess it's a follow-up to the last one. I wanted to reiterate how important daily writing can be, even to non-writers. Keeping a journal can help clear your mind of issues and problems, help see things in a new light, and help solve problems you otherwise would've found yourself worrying about. Also, keeping one journal is a great way to start out, yet I encourage anybody who actually acts on this advice to keep multiple journals, and, if possible, to carry one with you wherever you go. I can't garauntee you much, but I can say that I'm certain a time will come in your life when you wish you had more links to your past than simply your fading memories, and a journal is a sure-fire way to provide yourself a window into who you were before, and how you've changed over time.